Prem Round 5

Sides for the game against Sale tomorrow:

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS vs SALE SHARKS
Gallagher Premiership, Round 5
Friday 18 October, 2024
Kick-off: 7.45pm

15 George Furbank (c)
14 George Hendy
13 Tommy Freeman
12 Rory Hutchinson
11 Ollie Sleightholme
10 Fin Smith
9 Tom James

1 Emmanuel Iyogun
2 Robbie Smith
3 Trevor Davison
4 Gavin Thornbury
5 Chunya Munga
6 Angus Scott-Young – 50th Saints appearance
7 Tom Pearson
8 Henry Pollock

Replacements:
16 Curtis Langdon
17 Tarek Haffar
18 Elliot Millar Mills
19 Callum Hunter-Hill
20 Josh Kemeny
21 Archie McParland
22 Tom Litchfield
23 James Ramm

SALE TEAM TO FACE SAINTS:

15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Waisea Nayacalevu, 12 Sam Bedlow, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 Rob du Preez, 9 Gus Warr; 1 Si McIntyre, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 4 Ernst van Rhyn, 5 Hyron Andrews, 6 Tom Curry, 7 Ben Curry (c), 8 Dan du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Ethan Caine, 17 Tumy Onasanya, 18 James Harper, 19 Ben Bamber, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Nye Thomas, 22 Tom Curtis, 23 Luke James.

Some strange positional decisions there, Pollock at 8, all 100kg of him, when you have Pearson a 7 who as quite a bit of experience playing there, whereas Pollock is an out and out 7.

Thornbury starting, again a very light lock by todays standards, when Munga is available and has hardly played this season.

Good to see Freeman at 13 allowing space for Hendy who I rate very highly.

I would have liked to see a face off between LCD and Langdon, I should think Langdon is pretty pi$$ed off at LCD being ahead of him in the England stakes

Pollock came off the bench and played 8 the last two weeks, including for most the game Vs Tigers when Pearson was sat next to him on the bench they went with Pollock. He's not got size but he was explosive and pretty powerful.

Not sure this is the game for dual opensides in the backrow though, Saints could maybe do with a bit more heft. Moving Freeman into the midfield might help that a bit. Litchfield was anonymous last weekend and Hutchinson not much better.

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Ben Redshaw, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Connor Doherty, 12 Sammy Arnold, 11 Ben Stevenson, 10 Ethan Grayson, 9 Sam Stuart; 1 Adam Brocklebank, 2 Jamie Blamire, 3 Richard Palframan, 4 Pedro Rubiolo, 5 John Hawkins, 6 Philip van der Walt, 7 Tom Gordon, 8 Callum Chick (captain).

Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Luan de Bruin, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Freddie Lockwood, 20 Adam Scott, 21 Joe Davis, 22 Alex Hearle, 23 Cameron Hutchison.

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Olly Woodburn, 12 Joe Hawkins, 11 Paul Brown-Bampoe, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Sam Maunder; 1 Scott Sio, 2 Jack Yeandle (c), 3 Marcus Street, 4 Rusi Tuima, 5 Franco Molina, 6 Ethan Roots, 7 Richard Capstick, 8 Ross Vintcent

Replacements: 16 Jack Innard, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 19 Christ Tshiunza, 20 Greg Fisilau, 21 Tom Cairns, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 Ben Hammersley

STARTING XV

15 Freddie Steward [92]
14 Josh Bassett [16]
13 Izaia Perese [3]
12 Joseph Woodward [11]
11 Ollie Hassell-Collins [26]
10 Handré Pollard [34]
9 Jack van Poortvliet [77]
1 Nicky Smith [4]
2 Julián Montoya [60]
3 Joe Heyes [144]
4 Harry Wells [203]
5 Ollie Chessum [59]
6 Hanro Liebenberg [111]
7 Tommy Reffell [118]
8 Olly Cracknell [46]

REPLACEMENTS

16 Charlie Clare [98] *
17 James Cronin [37]
18 Dan Cole [326]
19 Tom Manz [6] **
20 Emeka Ilione [23]
21 Ben Youngs [317]
22 Jamie Shillcock [29]
23 Dan Kelly [84]

* Denotes 100th Leicester Tigers appearance
** Denotes Gallagher Premiership debut

Gloucester Rugby squad | Leicester Tigers (A)
15 Santi Carreras
14 Josh Hathaway
13 Max Llewellyn
12 Seb Atkinson
11 Ioan Jones
10 Charlie Atkinson
9 Tomos Williams
1 Ciaran Knight
2 Jack Singleton
3 Kirill Gotovtsev
4 Arthur Clark
5 Freddie Thomas
6 Jack Clement
7 Lewis Ludlow (C)
8 Zach Mercer

16 Seb Blake
17 Val Rapava-Ruskin
18 Afolabi Fasogbon
19 Matias Alemanno
20 Albert Tuiuse
21 Harry Taylor
22 Caolan Englefield
23 Louis Hillman-Cooper

Notable team news being that Martin has failed his late fitness test and so his academy second row teammate comes onto the bench. Tom Manz is a big unit that's been beset by injury and has been on loan at Notts

Perese is back from his concussion Vs Falcons, interesting that he replaces Kelly and Woodward retains the 12 shirt for the third game in a row. Bassett comes in for Watson who left the field late on Vs Saints and has apparently got some sort of knock.

No Anscombe for Glaws so Charlie Atkinson gets to play against his old teammates. Glaws rotating their props and loading up their bench with a 6-2 split. Perhaps fancy going after Tigers in the second half.

Well theres some flippin good wingers on show tonight! If only they were getting the service.

Exeter's should get more than ours i fear.

Some WQ players in action again. I’m wondering if we need to be taking a look at Joe Jenkins, seems to be getting game time at 12 and 13 for the Bears.

Sam do you think Kelly on the bench and Woodward starting possibly means Kelly is off to Ireland?

Quins v Bath

Quins Starting XV:

1. Fin Baxter (55)
2. Jack Walker (67)
3. Titi Lamositele (4)
4. Joe Launchbury (23)
5. Dino Lamb (97)
6. Jack Kenningham (53)
7. Will Evans (94)
8. Alex Dombrandt (140)

9. Will Porter (26)
10. Marcus Smith (164)
11. Cadan Murley (115)
12. Luke Northmore ( 70)
13. Oscar Beard (59)
14. Rodrigo Isgro (0)
15. Tyrone Green (76)

Impact Players:
16. Nathan Jibulu (17)
17. Joe Marler (284)
18. Dillon Lewis (21)
19. Irne Herbst (51)
20. Chandler Cunningham-South (20)
21. James Chisholm (152)
22. Danny Care (380)
23. Jarrod Evans (21)

Bath Rugby XV:

1 Beno Obano
2 Tom Dunn
3 Will Stuart
4 Quinn Roux
5 Charlie Ewels
6 Guy Pepper
7 Sam Underhill
8 Alfie Barbeary

9 Ben Spencer
10 Finn Russell
11 Austin Emens
12 Cameron Redpath
13 Ollie Lawrence
14 Joe Cokanasiga
15 Tom de Glanville

Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Ewan Richards, 20 Ted Hill, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Orlando Bailey, 23 Jaco Coetzee

Quins going for a 6-2 split on the bench is tactical - they've only listed Cleaves and Head as injured.

There are plenty of interesting match ups across the field among players in England and sometimes Lions contention. The battle of the back rows may well have a big say in the England A selection, and at 10 you have two of the leading candidates for the Lions.

Luke Pearce was tweeting his flight to Newcastle had been cancelled. BA apparently looking into it. Falcon fans offering to pick him up if he'll give them a win.

PF:
Some power coming off your bench! But Du Toit and Ted Hill for Bath aint lightweight either.

That Bath back row...smokin!

The lineout options look short on both sides mind. Ewels v Kenningham

Rugby Fan wrote:Luke Pearce was tweeting his flight to Newcastle  had been cancelled. BA apparently looking into it. Falcon fans offering to pick him up if he'll give them a win.

Didn't realise our referees travel in this kind of style!  BA has reported curtailing some of their Dreamliner flights due to a shortage of spare parts for their RR Trent 1000 engines.  Who would have thought this would impact our referees?

doctor_grey wrote:

Rugby Fan wrote:Luke Pearce was tweeting his flight to Newcastle  had been cancelled. BA apparently looking into it. Falcon fans offering to pick him up if he'll give them a win.

Didn't realise our referees travel in this kind of style!  BA has reported curtailing some of their Dreamliner flights due to a shortage of spare parts for their RR Trent 1000 engines.  Who would have thought this would impact our referees?

the dreamliner trip from Devon to Newcastle is such a popular route as well. There'll be carnage now.

Geordie wrote:PF:
The lineout options look short on both sides mind. Ewels v Kenningham :laugh:

Dino is a pretty good lineout operator, though better at stealing than receiving. He's similar to Itoje in that regard (if not quite on the same level).

Quins have been using Kenningham quite a lot as a lineout receiver recently - they seem able to hoist him high enough to offset his relative lack of height. I'd also expect a couple of balls to be thrown long for Dombrandt to charge out of the line and take.

But as you say, Bath's lineout isn't a huge weapon for them, which may be why Steph is getting a rest.

Poorfour wrote:

Geordie wrote:PF:
The lineout options look short on both sides mind. Ewels v Kenningham

Dino is a pretty good lineout operator, though better at stealing than receiving. He's similar to Itoje in that regard (if not quite on the same level).

Quins have been using Kenningham quite a lot as a lineout receiver recently - they seem able to hoist him high enough to offset his relative lack of height. I'd also expect a couple of balls to be thrown long for Dombrandt to charge out of the line and take.

But as you say, Bath's lineout isn't a huge weapon for them, which may be why Steph is getting a rest.

Ewels orchestrated a bloody good lineout defence off the bench for Bath a few weeks ago against Tigers. Helped swing the game massively. He's not the greatest jumper but he's got the rugby intellect to be a menace in that area.

Newcastle are winning at half-time, which is remarkable because we're doing it without the benefit of either a lineout or basic handling skills!  I love Blamire, he is from my home town, but he just can't throw for toffee, if the lineout was a lottery it would be an improvement!

Whey speaking of lineout...Jamie can't hot a barn door.

But to be fair he's been brutally physical in every other area of the game.


We're being really physical.

Shame I'm stood in an empty stand...KP is like a ghost town

Geordie wrote:Whey speaking of lineout...Jamie can't hot a barn door.

But to be fair he's been brutally physical in every other area of the game.


We're being really physical.  

Shame I'm stood in an empty stand...KP is like a ghost town

I suppose it is demoralising to see the the team get smacked every week. They need some feel good factor back, if they were competitive you could see more people coming through the door, but it can be infuriatingly difficult to watch them sometimes. We desperately need some investment from somewhere. I think a few quality players and we'll push teams a lot closer. We risk losing more talented youngsters if it doesn't come, they won't want to stay around a team that is forever staring relegation in the face.

Cumbrian wrote:

Geordie wrote:Whey speaking of lineout...Jamie can't hot a barn door.

But to be fair he's been brutally physical in every other area of the game.


We're being really physical.  

Shame I'm stood in an empty stand...KP is like a ghost town

I suppose it is demoralising to see the the team get smacked every week.  They need some feel good factor back, if they were competitive you could see more people coming through the door, but it can be infuriatingly difficult to watch them sometimes.  We desperately need some investment from somewhere. I think a few quality players and we'll push teams a lot closer. We risk losing more talented youngsters if it doesn't come, they won't want to stay around a team that is forever staring relegation in the face.

Because of you guys I actually switched from watching Saints this afternoon and are now watching Falcons. Don't let me down or I will have to regurgitate that beer I have been drinking....

Christ, only we could throw this away!

Well there you go they did get the win - Anyone think Baxter has gone a bit to young with his squad? He's got a job on his hands now...

You f£&ing beauty!!!!!

I've slated them...but by god they stood up tonight. Some bruised bodies tomorrow morning..

Well done boys

Geordie wrote:You f£&ing beauty!!!!!

I've slated them...but by god they stood up tonight. Some bruised bodies tomorrow morning..

Well done boys

Yep, I think they saw Exeter teetering and just went for it. If they play play with that level of commitment and determination for the rest of the season, we'll get more results/ bonus points. Super proud of them, they just smashed everything that moved.

Marra they just put their bodies on the line. It was as if they'd read all the criticism and just said you know what...we're not a champs team.

Chick...wow. sadly looks like he's off to Gloucester. Blamire...maniacally physical and aggressive.
Gordon Arnold...Rubiolo...wow.

Stuart..hugely slated was top class.

Have they shown their benchmark now or was this a one off against a side in their own troubles ?

Diamond was always likely to make Falcons a more difficult proposition and it's nice to see that some of his plans are coming to fruition.

Congrats to the Falcons fans - by the way I'm still taking offers from fans to NOT support their team so as to avoid jinxing them - the guys in Devon didn't pay up and you can see what's happened to them since we moved here in June

formerly known as Sam wrote:Diamond was always likely to make Falcons a more difficult proposition and it's nice to see that some of his plans are coming to fruition.

First time I've seen that winger Bampoe brown Sam. Thay boys got some future if he gets it right

I did tell you to keep the faith @Geordie .

So glad you guys finally have a win as it's been a long time coming but wtf is going on at Exeter , surely Rob Baxter is going to come under pressure because fans won't accept that result!

Geordie wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:Diamond was always likely to make Falcons a more difficult proposition and it's nice to see that some of his plans are coming to fruition.

First time I've seen that winger Bampoe brown Sam.  Thay boys got some future if he gets it right

The wingers at Chiefs could be special PBB and IFW is a partnership that could rip it up if Chiefs can get a pair of fit centres and invest in their halfbacks.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

Geordie wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:Diamond was always likely to make Falcons a more difficult proposition and it's nice to see that some of his plans are coming to fruition.

First time I've seen that winger Bampoe brown Sam.  Thay boys got some future if he gets it right

The wingers at Chiefs could be special PBB and IFW is a partnership that could rip it up if Chiefs can get a pair of fit centres and invest in their halfbacks.

PBB is a former 7's player. Also apparently 6'3'' and 98kg in our lovely mixed units.

Good match at Sixways but officials being a bit lax on forward passes ....

I so wish Ibitoye could defend, I'd have him in the England squad everyday of the week if he could.

Bristol vs. Saracens is a crazy game!

lostinwales wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

Geordie wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:Diamond was always likely to make Falcons a more difficult proposition and it's nice to see that some of his plans are coming to fruition.

First time I've seen that winger Bampoe brown Sam.  Thay boys got some future if he gets it right

The wingers at Chiefs could be special PBB and IFW is a partnership that could rip it up if Chiefs can get a pair of fit centres and invest in their halfbacks.

PBB is a former 7's player. Also apparently 6'3'' and 98kg in our lovely mixed units.

He also played Plymouth and Durham/Exeter Uni last season, he was tearing up trees. Chiefs had eyes on him early and with good reason. He looks like he's going to be a star on the wing and pretty soon. He's a sizeable unit with plenty of pace which is always a good start, got good hands as well.

Bristol Vs Sarries and Quins Vs Bath were both cracking games. Didn't get to see all of them as out and about but both went close. Cracking Prem season this year.

Elliot Daly is probably one of Brorthwick's least popular squad selections. Against Bristol, he showed why he can still be valuable. He wasn't the fastest or most dynamic player on the field but he was one of the smartest.

Rugby Fan wrote:Elliot Daly is probably one of Brorthwick's least popular squad selections. Against Bristol, he showed why he can still be valuable. He wasn't the fastest or most dynamic player on the field but he was one of the smartest.

He's far from a bad player, in fact he's a decent one but given his age profile and the other options available in the squad he's not troubling the 23 and he's taking a spot another young winger (we have ample amounts currently) could be using to get used to the systems and the step up in expectations. I suspect Daly is there because he's experienced and he's going to act as a bit of a leader in the squad. Same reason Ewels is there really.

At club level Daly is intelligent enough and has that massive boot of his to be a classy player. He always has an error in his locker which is a frustration or certainly was when he was at 15 for England.

The Premiership YouTube highlights are an utter disgrace. Take a look at this Quins vs Bath video.

We don't see Quins 1st try. Then we get a big Bath attack, during which Barbeary is being treated. It looks like we are watching the build-up to a Bath try but the clip stops. Suddenly, we are on to a passage of play where Quins are somehow 14-0 up, and we haven't seen their second try.

Then, Bath are awarded a penalty, and the next thing we see is a 14-7 scoreline, without seeing Bath's try. Then Quins are awarded a penalty, and suddenly Bath are level at 14-14 without any footage of Bath's second try. After that, we get 20 seconds of dead half-time break footage, and I switched off in disgust.

You Tube commentators wonder if some rubbish AI programme has been used to come up with the package.





The Bristol vs Saracens highlights are a bit more coherent but there was one moment which everyone agreed was a standout, and it isn't shown at all. Ibitoye made a try with a delicious break, and an outrageous back-handed offload. We only get the last phase of that play.

Watching Leicester v Gloucester, good match so far but since when did Montoya become "Montosha" ? Bit like when Kiev became Key-eeeve instead of Key-ev.
Trivial but something I find odd by commentary.

Agreed, entertaining from a neutral's point of view. Gloucester are looking vibrant in attack, probably about the best I've seen Charlie Atkinson play. Leicester are looking powerful, but quite stodgy in attack.

Leicester need to be careful, because another score from Gloucester and they may be out of sight.

OHC poor in defence. Scored a good try but at fault or partially for two Gloc tries.
Cracking try then though by Pollard. Good move by Leicester.

Two very good tries from Leicester have turned it around! Now Gloucester have to be careful, because if they cannot wrestle some control back they are going to get a duffing.

Good game overall.
From England perspective Steward, Chessum and JvP good. For all those saying Mercer should be in squad he was anonymous.

mountain man wrote:Good game overall.
From England perspective Steward, Chessum and JvP good. For all those saying Mercer should be in squad he was anonymous.

Steward losing his shirt has been great for his development. He's really pushed on this season. He looks desperate to prove a point and challenge for the spot.

Another solid showing from Joe Heyes as well as Joe Woodward in midfield. Dan Kelly was very good, getting back to his all action best though there's another gear for him to refind I think.

Seb Atkinson was at the heart of everything Glaws did well. He and Llewellyn formed a really nice centre combination for Glaws.

Premiership Rugby have realized the previous highlights package was an embarassment, and have uploaded a new edit, which actually shows some of the tries. The old one has apparently been taken down, though I can still see it, which maybe because it's in my cache.

There's been no explanation of what happened. YouTube commenters assume either a disgruntled employee or an inadequate AI tool.

The ITV highlight show is a lot worse now as well.
This Unleashed format pretty poor and loss of Flats and Topsy a big blow.

As for TNT, the diabolical "funny?" skit promoting the AIs with the Rock, Chris Jones and JK Simmons was toe curlingly awful.

mountain man wrote:
As for TNT, the diabolical "funny?" skit promoting the AIs with the Rock, Chris Jones and JK Simmons was toe curlingly awful.

Did make me chuckle at just how bad and stilted it was. At least there's enough interest in their rugby product for them to bother getting the advert made.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

mountain man wrote:
As for TNT, the diabolical "funny?" skit promoting the AIs with the Rock, Chris Jones and JK Simmons was toe curlingly awful.

Did make me chuckle at just how bad and stilted it was. At least there's enough interest in their rugby product for them to bother getting the advert made.

I suspect it plays better in the US than the UK, and rugby is doing a bit of a charm offensive on the US ahead of RWC 27 and 29

Some people have been mentioning Cracknell for Wales, likely as an 8. He was always a decent player. I'm not sure if he is still WQ...

mikey_dragon wrote:Some people have been mentioning Cracknell for Wales, likely as an 8. He was always a decent player. I'm not sure if he is still WQ...

Massive work rate, hits things hard but he's not mobile or explosive enough for international rugby. Good club level player. I doubt Wales will call him up.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

mountain man wrote:Good game overall.
From England perspective Steward, Chessum and JvP good. For all those saying Mercer should be in squad he was anonymous.

Steward losing his shirt has been great for his development. He's really pushed on this season. He looks desperate to prove a point and challenge for the spot.

Another solid showing from Joe Heyes as well as Joe Woodward in midfield. Dan Kelly was very good, getting back to his all action best though there's another gear for him to refind I think.

Seb Atkinson was at the heart of everything Glaws did well. He and Llewellyn formed a really nice centre combination for Glaws.

Do you think he'll be with you next season...or in Ireland?